Hopping John (1834)

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   My "jambalaya" antedate is "hopping johnny," and my "hopping john" antedate now looks like it's something else!
   From the ACCESSIBLE ARCHIVES database.


May, 1834
THE LADY'S BOOK (GODEY'S--ed.)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Volume VIII Page 244

"What shall we have?--It's cold.--What d'ye say to Hopping John, made Tom Nottle's fashion?--Landlord, mix a pint of brandy wi' half a gallon of your best cider, sugared to your own taste; and d'ye mind?--pop in about a dozen good roasted apples, hissing hot, to take the chill off."

In a short time, the two cousins were seated by the fire, in a little room behind the bar of the Sawney's Cross, with a smoking bowl of liquor on the table before them, and Ned Creese assisting them to empty it.  By degrees, the cousins became elevated, and their chat was enlivened by budding jokes and choice flowers or rustic song.  Harry's forehead frequently reminded him, in the midst of his glee, of the (Word missing?--ed.) in the road; and he recurred to it, for the fifth time, since the sitting, as Ned brought in a second beverage of hot Hopping John:--"I'd lay a wager I know where my blind galloway is, just about now," quoth he; "it's odd to me if he isn't stopping at the Dragon's Head, where he always pulls up, and tempts me to call for a cup of cider and a mouthful of hay.